Thrall (40 page)

Someone slid open the side door. Marx had stopped at the edge of the parking lot, though the entire lot was empty. Hale’s truck pulled up next to us, containing the rest of the team. Soldiers unloaded, keeping their eyes on the club.

Dad and I climbed out of the van. The night was bitterly cold. My breath made small puffs of steam in the amber glow of the street lamps. The front door of the Raven club was open, and we could see a pale light shining from within. The light shifted as something inside moved.

“Dad.” I grabbed onto his arm.

He nodded grimly. “I saw it.”

Marx and Hale moved through their teams, ensuring everyone was ready. The night was strangely silent. A lonely traffic light turned from green to yellow to red, but no cars passed through the intersection. When Marx and Hale were satisfied, the entire team hurried across the dark parking lot toward the club. As we approached, Marx gestured and the team slowed.

Hale approached the club’s front entrance, edging the door open further with the tip of one dagger. He glanced inside and then pressed back against the building, grim. He beckoned the team forward. We grouped close to Hale facing the front entrance.

“We’re in trouble,” Hale said. “The place is full. If I had to guess? I’d say there’s close to a hundred Thrall in there.”

“But...” I glanced around, stunned. “Lucas is upstairs.” I felt Dad’s hand tighten on my shoulder. All I’d let myself think about was finding Lucas. Somewhere inside, I’d known we’d have to face Ais in order to save him, but I’d left that thought for later, trusting that the Guard could handle it. We were so close.

“You can talk to them.” Gretchen appeared at my elbow, eyes fixed on my face. “Find us a way past. We have to get upstairs.”

“Talk to them?”

“Use
the call,
” she said. But her voice wasn’t tinged with her customary irritation.

Hale nodded at me. “We’ll follow your lead.”

“Me?” I glanced at Dad, panic driving out all other feeling. I wasn’t supposed to be leading this charge. I was surrounded by soldiers who had decades of experience fighting Lilitu and Thrall. Surely one of them could handle this. I expected Dad to fight Hale, but he just stared at the younger man. Dad’s jaw was tight with tension, but when he turned to me, he nodded. His eyes were drawn with concern, but beneath that, I saw pride and hope.

“You can do this.” Dad placed something into my hands. Semangelof’s sword. I heard an unsettled murmur moving through Marx’s men, but no one voiced an objection.

Gretchen nodded encouragement, and then turned to the others. “Give her some room.”

I gripped Semangelof’s sword tightly. Someone pulled the Raven’s door open. I took a hesitant step forward, shooting one last look at Dad.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Dad said.

I entered the club. As I passed through the front lobby and into the club proper, a sea of faces turned toward me. Their eyes were dull, empty. It seemed like they were waiting. For us? I shivered, and then felt the Guard filling the lobby behind me. I took a deep breath. As I envisioned summoning
the call,
I felt the energy I’d gleaned from Matt surging within me.

“
Stand aside,
” I said, raising the sword.
The call
rang out toward the Thrall. They stepped aside to reveal a path to the back hallway. I stared in disbelief.

“Let’s go,” Gretchen said, nudging me. I walked forward. Gretchen and Dina flanked me. The other soldiers followed on our heels through the mass if Thrall. One hundred pairs of eyes followed us deeper into the club. But why would they stop us? With each step, we were further from the outside world. With each step, our chances of escaping diminished.

As I reached the back hallway, I could see a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. “That way.” I could almost feel Lucas above us. The sensation drove me into the hallway. I was half way to the stairs before I realized only Gretchen and Dina were following me. The rest of the Guard ringed the opening to the hallway, daggers at the ready, facing the Thrall.

“They’re not coming?” I asked. My voice squeaked in the silence.

“They can’t face Ais,” Gretchen murmured into my ear. “You saw what she did to Murphy.” I glanced at her sharply. Dad must have told her everything when he’d pulled her aside to give her the news about Lucas. “She has too much power over the men. They’ll keep the Thrall downstairs.”

“So it’s just us.” I felt the last of my confidence slip.

“It’s nearly dawn,” Dina said shortly. “This is our best chance.” Dina didn’t look so good. The scratches down her chest were deep; she had cleaned and dressed them in the van, but I’d seen the way her skin puffed out, inflamed, around the marks. Every step seemed to hurt her.

I glanced at Dad. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Guard, facing the Thrall.

“Forget them,” Gretchen whispered. “It’s just us now. Everything else is a distraction.”

I nodded, and Gretchen led the way to the stairs. The narrow passageway was dark. A thin wash of light reached us from upstairs. Someone was sitting near the bottom of the stairs. I recognized her by her honey-blond hair. Karayan.

“There!” Gretchen lunged for Karayan, but I grabbed her shoulder, holding her back.

“Wait!” Something was wrong. Karayan hadn’t looked up at Gretchen’s shout. I edged past Gretchen to face Karayan.

She lifted her face. It was red from crying. “Is Thane dead?”

“Not yet.”

Surprise brought a new light to Karayan’s eyes. And there was something else, a small knot of hope. I kept a tight hold on my sword; I wasn’t ready to trust this show of emotion. Not after everything she’d done. Karayan sensed my hostility.

“Ais is upstairs, in the club’s main office. She has Lucas with her.”

“I know.”

Karayan looked bone tired. “She picked the Raven for you. Did you know that? This place saw your coming-of-age party. Now it will see your death. You shouldn’t have come.”

As if on cue, I heard a shout of warning, then the sounds of fighting. I jerked around to stare at Gretchen, terrified. The battle had begun. Gretchen looked at me, urgent.

“We have to move. I don’t know how long they’ll be able to hold them off.” Gretchen pushed past us, heading up the stairs. Dina followed, shooting Karayan an icy glare in passing.

I tried to follow but Karayan caught my arm, hissing over the sounds of the fight. “Ais could have run. She could have moved the location of her ceremony. She was willing to sacrifice the rest of us. But you... If she can’t have you on her side, she wants you dead.”

“Why are you here, Karayan?” I jerked away from her and felt a welcome anger rushing in. It filled the space that had been hollowed out by fear. Anger was better. Anger was fuel.

“I came to tell you not to go up there,” she said. “But you’re not going to listen to me, are you?”

I pushed past her, following Gretchen and Dina to the top of the stairs. When I glanced back, Karayan was already gone.

“Focus,” Gretchen said, calling my attention to the task at hand. I described what I’d seen from Lucas’ perspective in the dream. Gretchen and Dina hashed out a quick plan, settling on their attack in a few seconds.

“What about me?”

“You have the sword,” Dina said. “What do you think?”

“We’ll keep Ais distracted.” Gretchen said, shooting Dina a glance. “Try to give you a clean shot at her. Just
make sure you wound her.
”

“But...” The obvious flaw in our plan leaped large in my mind. “She can travel through the dream world. What’s to stop her from just escaping if I hurt her?”

Dina looked at Gretchen. “Did you tell her nothing?” Before Gretchen could respond, Dina jerked her head at the sword in my hand. “That’s not some random piece of steel you’re holding. That sword was forged to fight in this world and the dream. If you even clip her with that sword, you’ll cut her off from her powers.” Dina snapped her fingers. “They’ll be useless until she heals from the wound.”

“By the way,” Gretchen said with a grim smile. “Don’t nick yourself.” Gretchen started down the narrow passage, daggers in hand. Dina followed. Gretchen listened at two doors before stopping at a third. She stepped back and pointed. Dina nodded, and then they were bursting into the room.

I heard Dina’s attack, crouched in the hallway. Ais’ low laugh sent chills down my back. There was a clatter, and a terrible snap. I slipped down the hallway, moving quietly.

By the time I’d reached the open door, Dina was dead - slumped into a little heap by the liquor boxes I’d seen from Lucas’ mind. Ais stood over her, in her Lilitu form. By some small miracle, Ais was facing the back of the room; she didn’t see me. She was watching Gretchen and Lucas. I bit down hard on the inside of my lip to keep from making a sound. The office was a long, cramped room, extending from the door to a wall of curtains on the far side.

Lucas was slumped in a club chair near the curtained wall. His hair was damp with sweat, his skin pale. Blood had seeped from his shoulder and drenched his shirt, drying into a red-black slick that glistened darkly. His breath came in shallow gasps, but his eyes cut around the room with sharp intelligence. Ais hadn’t preyed on him. Yet.

Gretchen was standing in front of Lucas, daggers raised, facing Ais. Lucas’ eyes met mine for a fraction of a second – then he shifted them to Ais. Trying not to give me away.

Gretchen’s voice trembled. I suspected it was only partly an act. “Let me take him and go. You’ve already won. We won’t interfere.”

“No,” Ais said. “I need him to make a point.”

As I stared at Ais’ back, I realized I was burning through this opportunity. I lifted the sword and a surge of adrenaline propelled me forward. But this building was old. As I crossed the threshold, swinging for Ais’ back, the floor groaned.

Ais heard me and whipped around. Instead of striking Ais’ back, my blade sliced clean through one leathery wing. I had committed everything to the swing, and when it didn’t connect as I’d anticipated, it threw me off balance. I stumbled, and the sword clattered to the ground and skidded under the table between Dina’s slumped body and the door.

Ais spun to face me, hissing in pain. The sword had sliced a gaping hole through the thick membrane of Ais’ wing. For one moment I stared at the ruined wing as the edges of the wound seeped out a pearly ichor. Then Ais’ Lilitu aspect vanished, leaving her looking almost vulnerable in her human form. Ais gaped at me, then staggered back, her eyes losing focus. Trying to escape into the dream world. Nothing happened.

Her eyes refocused on my face. Her lips were tight with fury, but she forced a glacial calm into her words. “Clever. You found an angel’s sword. You may think you’ve triumphed here, but I’ve learned a thing or two about patience. I’ll have next Winter Solstice. You won’t.”

“Dad!” I screamed out the door, hoping he could hear over the sounds of his fight. “Dad, help us!” I was already moving, racing for the open door. But Ais was faster. She grabbed me at the threshold and threw me deep into the room. I slid along the floor and stopped about two-thirds of the way to Lucas and Gretchen. I saw Lucas’ face as the desperate hope in his eyes died a little. His eyes shifted to Ais, over my shoulder. I turned, scared.

Ais closed and locked the office door.

“Such a waste of power.” She regarded me coolly, walking across the room toward me. “You have ancient blood in you. You could have been one of our Great Sisters.”

Someone pounded on the door from the hallway. “Braedyn? Gretchen?! What’s happening?” It was Hale. The door shuddered with an impact. He was trying to break in.

“Hale!” Gretchen’s voice was full of urgency. “Get the others! We need you!”

“Hang on! We’re coming!” I heard Hale’s steps retreating.

I glanced at Gretchen. Her hands were tight fists on her daggers, and her face was pale. When she saw my confusion, she took a step toward me. “Her powers are broken! She can’t use the men against us now!” I hadn’t thought about what I was doing when I’d called for help. Now my heart swelled with hope.

But Gretchen’s words had an entirely different effect on Ais. Ais grabbed a chair and lodged it against the doorknob, then scanned the room for something stronger to barricade the door. Her eyes settled on a bank of heavy metal filing cabinets against one wall.

While Ais was distracted, Gretchen hauled me to my feet and slipped me one of her daggers. I stared at her, numb.

“Just like basement practice,” Gretchen said. She held a dagger in one hand, and balled her other hand into a fist. I felt a fierce grin of understanding spread across my face. If nothing else, all those weeks of tense sparring practice had taught us how to anticipate one another, how to move together. We were a perfectly matched fighting team. We turned to face Ais. She was pulling one of the filing cabinets away from the wall.

Gretchen and I launched ourselves across the room toward Ais. Ais turned, surprised. Her eyes narrowed when she saw us. But it worked; she forgot about the door in her effort to defend herself. Rather than get pinned against the wall, Ais charged forward to meet us in the middle of the room.